Bruno Fernandes has only missed TWO Man United games since joining, but is in danger of exhaustion

Manchester United’s glee over Bruno Fernandes’ recent brilliance on the pitch could be mitigated by a busy Christmas schedule on the horizon, causing growing fears of fatigue for the club’s star.

The 26-year-old has only lost two games for his club since his £ 68m transfer from Sporting Lisbon in January, namely wins against LASK in the Europa League in August and the League Cup defeat of Brighton in September.

The 3-0 win at Amex in the Carabao Cup is also the only occasion he has not been named to the Old Trafford squad for a competitive match.

Testament to the consistency he has brought and the stability he has added in abundance to midfield with his 35 appearances to date, which have included 21 goals – the latest of which came in a brace against Istanbul Basaksehir – and 13 assists.

It was the £ 89m arrival at the club in 2016 from fellow midfielder Paul Pogba that many saw as the signing that would help run the midfield given his outstanding performances for Juventus.

But it’s the new guy Fernandes who usurped the French World Cup winner as a general in the middle of the park and remained the hub around which boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continues to build on his side.

Former United winger Nani is certainly of this view, stating earlier this week: ‘An important part of this team is Bruno Fernandes. Bruno is now a much better player than when we played together [at Sporting].

‘I saw so much potential in Bruno and told him to go to England if he decided to move to another league. I told him: “Your game will be fine there and the fans will go crazy for you!”

‘The style of his football is something that fans appreciate. He is a player who likes to take risks in the game, who wants to take responsibility for the game on his shoulders and make difficult passes, dribbles and shots.

‘He doesn’t care about mistakes; think only of the success and success of the team. He knows what it takes. That’s Man United, isn’t it?

“Bruno has done so well so far, scoring goals and setting many goals, but he will continue to improve and make the team even better.”

As Nani said, his shooting prowess has become paramount, with the former Sporting midfielder scoring nine of United’s 13 Premier League goals so far in 2020-21, with Edinson Cavani, Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan -Bissaka and Marcus Rashford who took one each.

And with the club facing no fewer than five games between December 20 and January 2 this season and nine games overall during a brutal holiday season, United will be keen to keep their lead fresh as he tries to push for a spot in Champions League and some silverware for the first time since 2017.

But if his nine-month career at Old Trafford so far is anything to go by, Solskjaer appears to be reluctant to give him a substantial rest, such is his importance among players.

Of all the Norwegian squad members, only captain Maguire has played the most minutes in all competitions since Fernandes, who made his 0-0 debut that day with Wolves at Old Trafford.

The £ 80m England defender has played over 3,000 minutes, while Fernandes has spent a total of 2,762 minutes on the pitch since his United debut.

Only Maguire and number 1 goalkeeper David De Gea have played more often in the Premier League, both amassing 1,980 minutes since February, while the midfield star is next on the list with 1,852 minutes in the top flight.

This sees him in 37th place in the Premier League Most Minutes category with all players from all other teams having competed in the top flight since February and 25th excluding goalkeepers.

The Portuguese international, however, leads the FA Cup category, without United having played more than the 277 minutes they spent on the pitch last season when the club reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by Chelsea at Wembley.

Champion size for the FA Cup is relatively small, as Fernandes has only played in three games in the competition, which included the full 120 minutes in the Norwich win, but Eric Bailly is next closest on the list with 231 minutes played. .

Fernandes does not appear on top of United players to have completed the most minutes in Europe or the League Cup, with Anthony Martial seeing a maximum of 350 minutes of Champions League action and Maguire 570 minutes in the Europa League campaign last season.

By comparison, Fernandes’ 259 minutes saw him appear seventh on the list in the Champions League, his 362 minutes sixth in the Europa League and 18 in the League Cup having played just 12 minutes in that competition.

Still, relegating his United career to mere statistics of how much time he has spent on the pitch in all competitions since his arrival is inconvenient for a player whose leadership and creativity skills have already made him a fan favorite.

The club will require every single quality curtain they can provide both in the locker room and on the pitch during the holiday season, with a tough Christmas season set to hit United.

The tough away games of Paris-Saint Germain and West Ham begin in December, before the Manchester derby takes center stage in mid-month.

Solskjaer’s men then face a less daunting task at Sheffield United before kicking off the holiday season in earnest with a visit to the fearless and progressive Leeds side of Marcelo Bielsa.

They will then face Carlo Ancelotti’s impressive Everton in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup three days later, before traveling to the King Power Stadium on Boxing Day to face a Leicester team that will be out for revenge following the defeat by the Red Devils l ‘last day of last season deprived them of a place in the Champions League.

The club ended the holiday season with two home games against Wolves and Aston Villa, who both earned a point at Old Trafford last season.

Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola have been the main critics in the league for programming and the alarming by-product of an alarming increase in injuries it is creating as a result.

Solskjaer himself is currently without up to six players for this weekend’s bout with high flying Southampton, including Pogba and Wan-Bissaka and long-term absentees Luke Shaw and Bailly.

The Norwegian also struck ahead of the final international break for the close breakthrough his team faced between competing against Istanbul Basaksehir in Turkey on Wednesday and Saturday’s 12:30 trip to Goodison Park to face Everton.

“12.30 on Saturday doesn’t help us, but that’s what the Champions League gives you,” said Solskjaer.

‘It gives you a challenge because you want to be in this competition playing midweek and we just have to take it as it comes.

“We asked for a match on Sunday, but there was absolutely no help in getting it.”

But if high-level fatigue robbed him of protagonist Fernandes – whom Solskjaer wanted to field on any occasion – due to injury over the Christmas period, those complaints could still turn into yet another passionate outburst.